Swallowed
by Celestial Angel1
Summary: Taiora. This is chapter two, where Tai begins to explain what Sora was saying in the first chapter. This fic is going to bounce from one sided couples to couples and back again, so read it to keep up!! And don't forget to review!!
1. Charade

** Okay. . .I haven't gotten 5 reviews for my first chapter of "A Smile Like Yours", so I'm not writing the second chapter until I get that last review. Call me a brat!! Anyway, this is a new fic called "Swallowed". Basically it's about Tai and Sora and how one of them is really depressed about some things, and the other tries their best to help them. I hope everyone that reads this reviews it. I don't really know if I can write a good fic, let alone a good Taiora. Hopefully I hit some kind of paydirt with this one ::wink wink::!! **  
  
Swallowed  
Chapter One: Charades  
  
  
~SORA~  
It feels like someone is holding me under water. Like I'm submerged and have no chance at making it to the surface before I surrender to my lungs and open my mouth for air, even though there's no air to be found. I can't remember how long it's been since the last time I could laugh and really have reason to.   
  
  
I have been hiding under a cloud of smiles and laughs for over a year now. Things used to be so much better. I was happy, with the boy of my dreams, and was on my way to a brilliant future. I had everything, and in the blink of an eye, I lost it all. I guess I could tell you about it, I don't have anything else to do tonight.   
  
  
It all started in early August last year. I was getting ready to enter my senior year at Odaiba High School with all of my friends. I was a Varsity cheerleader, a member of the swing choir and concert choir, a trumpet player in the marching band and percussionist in the concert band, and a member of several clubs and organizations. And I was getting ready to apply to a college far from Odaiba, where I would experience life on my own. Everything was perfect, I was even thinking about dating a certain brown eyed dark haired guy by the name of Tai Kamiya. I was on cloud nine. If I could have seen what was going to happen to me in the next eight months, I probably wouldn't have made some of the decisions I did.   
  
  
Tai and I have been best friends since the dawn of our existance, or so it seems. It just seemed right for us to fall for each other sometime in our lives. And we did, during the summer before our senior year. No one, not even Tai and myself, expected it to happen. We were at Matt's house one night, and we just started holding hands. The next day we talked about it and how we felt for each other. It turned out that we both had feelings for each other, and our relationship officially began that day. We never told anyone about us until early September at swing choir retreat. It had been hard to keep the secret, and we really didn't need to, but we didn't want everyone to freak out and pick on us like they did with Izzy and Mimi. Not that it was a mean kind of picking, it was a joke. It was just annoying.   
  
  
Life at that time was great. I was taking my last classes of my high school career, being very involved in extracurriculars, and dating the sweetest guy I've ever known. Little did I know that things were about to change in time, and even though I saw it coming, I didn't do anything about it until it was too late.   
  
  
Tai and I dated through the month of September, celebrating our one month anniversary at a football game because I had to be there to cheer and march in the band. Tai was good about it, and was an excellent sport, even though we couldn't really celebrate our anniversary. Homecoming was approaching quickly, and all the girls were buying dresses and making appointments for their hair and nails. I went out with my mother and bought an small blue dress that seemed to be made for only me. I loved that dress, and I prayed Tai would like it as much as I did. The day of the dance arrived, and I went to my hair appointment, leaving almost an hour later with a head full of fire red curls piled high on my head. Tai loved my dress, and soon we were off dancing the night away. I felt so much love for Tai, and he showed much love toward me also as we danced close together, kissing every now and then.   
  
  
October came and went, and I was still happily dating Tai, though things had been a bit strained for awhile. He argued with me that his other friends thought I disliked them, even though I tried my best to be kind to them. Two of his friends, who happened to be ex-girlfriends, treated me like I was diseased. Every time they saw me, they'd glare at me. I felt like they hated me, and it hurt so much. Sometimes I felt like staying in bed and not going to school for fear I'd run into them and feel the feelings I loathed so much. Tai shrugged everything I said about his friends off and told me that they liked me, but they were jealous that I got to spend so much time with him. I believed Tai, even though in the long run, Amy, his friend, would take him away from me forever.   
  
  
It was a cold November night in Odaiba. I was at cheerleading practice in the gym while the basketball team, on which Tai played, practiced as well. Tai and I hadn't been speaking for about a week. He was making excuses, and I suspected the worst. I prayed he wasn't breaking up with me, but when I got home and read the email from him, my heart broke and fell to the floor. It was over the very next day. All it took was some strong words from me, and some terrible things for Tai to say for me to see it wasn't working out. He broke up with me, and started dating Amy in the next couple days. I was heartbroken. For days I was completely out of it, walking through the halls like a zombie. During that time, I became depressed, a feeling I would come to expect when things didn't work out for the best. All I could think about was what he'd said to me. He'd told me that he dated me to get Amy to be jealous and ask him out. That shattered me totally. It killed me to think that my best friend had played me the way he did.   
  
  
The months melted together after that, and the junior/senior prom was approaching. I had no one to go with, and felt the pang of rejection as one by one every person found a date. Tai was going with Mae, a girl from a different school. Amy had broken up with him only three weeks into their relationship. He never found out why. I, on the other hand, had not dated anyone since Tai left me. The only person left without a date was Matt Ishida, surprisingly, and a week before the prom, he asked me. Luckily for me I was already planning on attending alone and had made all my appointments in advance.   
  
  
May fifth arrived, and so did the prom. Matt and I went, and danced a couple times. I really didn't want to dance with him much, my eyes were on Corey, who I had recently developed a crush on. So I spent the night dancing with Matt, even though I wanted to be with Corey. It was hard to have fun with Matt since he wasn't really into dances. So the night ended, and I went home alone. I walked into my room, changed into my pajamas, and began to cry. I felt to lonely, like no one wanted to be with me. I bet you have felt that way before, in fact I know you have. Everyone feels completely alone at one time or another. That's how I felt. Like I was alone. And it hurt me like you wouldn't believe to watch my friends cuddle up to their girlfriends. It hurt me a lot to see Tai flirting with every girl possible. The weight on my heart began to increase as Graduation neared, and I found out that I didn't have enough money or scholarships to go to a far away college. To me, life seemed so empty, so cold. I hated waking up and looking in the mirror every morning. Instead of seeing a happy eighteen year old, I came face to face with a sad young woman who had to put on a happy face to keep the world from knowing she was so upset all the time.   
  
  
Things were going to get a little more complicated with me and Tai later in the summer, even though I didn't want it to. And I wish with all my might that I could erase the time we had together and have him back as a friend. But that's another story, and I have a lot to do right now, so I can't talk about it right now. It's going to have to wait for later.   
  
  
** So. . .is it lame? I hope not, because every single thing in that fic is true! This is centered around my sister Marie and her boyfriend Ryan, and how she got so depressed over losing him and falling for him again later on. I know, you prolly don't believe me, but hey, I guess you'll never really know! Review this, and the next chapter will be in Tai's POV talking about how Sora was changing during the school year while they were together and after they broke up. Things are going to get a little violent, and I don't advise little peeps to read it. That's it for now, hope you all review it, otherwise I won't know whether or not to continue it! This IS going to end up TAIORA, even though there's going to be some one sided SORATO. So review to find out a happy ending!! ** 


	2. Shadow

** Here's another installment of "Swallowed". This chapter is going to focus on Tai and how he was feeling during some of the times Sora talked about. The first chapter was only a prologue. . .this and any future chapters will kinda be in a flashback format. So read (review) and enjoy! **  
  
  
Swallowed  
Chapter Two: Shadow  
  
  
~TAI~  
Sora. She was my everything. I had been wanting to ask her out for months, but was way too afraid of her saying no. I mean, seriously, we were best friends, why would she want to jepardize that? You might ask why I would want to risk our friendship like that. Well, at that point in time, I was in love for the very first time. I was happy, and I knew that when I was with Sora, I was happiest. So I gathered up every ounce of courage in my soul and made my move at Matt's one night. I remember it like it was yesterday. . .   
  
  
~FLASHBACK~  
A tall blonde in his late teens walked into a living room with a six pack of soda, which he distributed to a brunette young man, a redheaded young lady, a sweet looking pink haired girl, and a young man with dark reddish brown hair. The blonde sat down on the couch beside the pink haired girl and smiled as she flirted with him happily.   
  
  
"I'm bored! Matt, what can we do here?" Mimi, the pink haired girl asked the blonde, her brown eyes sparkling with energy. Matt smirked and turned down the lights, gaining the attention of the other kids in the house.   
  
  
"I say we go out to the shack." Matt said. Mimi gasped and smiled. The redhead looked nervously at the brunette, who smiled down on her shyly.   
  
  
"Don't worry Sora. It's just a shack. Nothing's going to get you out there." the young man said, still grinning.   
  
  
"But it's really freaky out there Tai, and I don't want to be lost out in the woods on such a dark night." Sora replied. The other boy stood up and sighed.  
  
  
"Well, we're not getting any younger. Let's get going, for goodness sakes." he said, putting on his shoes and walking toward the door. Matt and Mimi jumped up and followed the other boy to the door.  
  
  
"Sora! Tai! Come on!" Mimi called. Sora looked at Tai and smiled, blushing slightly. Tai helped Sora up and walked with her out to the porch where the other three teens waited for them.   
  
  
"Why are you so intrigued with this place Izzy?" Tai asked as he slid his feet into his sandals. Sora tied the laces of her shoes and stood up.   
  
  
"I'm just in the mood to get the crap scared out of me." Izzy replied as the five of them walked toward the woods, Sora and Tai in the back of the line. Matt led everyone to a decrepit old shack nestled in a small clearing. The moon was covered with dark storm clouds, making things difficult to see. Sora began to shiver uncontrollably, and while walking, bumped into Tai.  
  
  
"Cold?" Tai asked innocently. Sora shook her head, her cinnamon eyes concentrating on the shack ahead.   
  
  
"No. Scared out of my wits. . .yes. Definitely scared." Sora answered. Tai realized that this was the time for him to make his move and slipped his hand into Sora's slowly. Sora looked over at Tai and smiled, tightening her grip on his hand. Tai grinned in the darkness and pulled her closer to him as they stopped at the door of the old building.  
  
  
~END FLASHBACK~  
That's when I knew Sora was as into me as I was her. The way she laced her fingers through mine made me feel so. . .comfortable. Of course we didn't say anything at that time, we were too intrigued by Matt's story about the shack and the hermit who once inhabited it. But I barely heard a word, all I could think about was Sora, and how happy I was that we were holding hands.   
  
  
Needless to say we survived Matt's corny ghost story, and on the way home Sora and I kept close, holding hands and hiding it from the others. We weren't ready to let everyone know we had feelings. We hadn't even talked about dating yet! But someone else liked Sora too, and he let her know that night as well, only it was a little too late.   
  
  
~FLASHBACK~  
"That was really fun, Matt!" Mimi squealed as everyone walked together back to Matt's house. It was past midnight, and curfew was twelve, so they were all running quite late. Izzy walked up to Sora and Tai, who were latched together. He sneaked his hand into Sora's quietly, not even looking down at her to see a reaction. Tai looked over and saw Sora holding Izzy's hand. Sora looked up at Tai with nervous eyes, then let go of Izzy's hand and lagged a little behind with Tai. Izzy shook his head, but continued to walk at his normal pace. Tai and Sora giggled and pulled each other closer as they walked toward everyone's car. Mimi glanced down at her watch and cried out.  
  
  
"It's 12:45!!!! We're late getting home! I'm dead, totally dead. Tai, need a ride?" Mimi asked as she jumped into her car. Tai nodded and took one last look at Sora before getting into the car and speeding off into the night. Sora sighed happily and got into her car, starting it and driving carefully home, where she fall asleep to thoughts of her and Tai holding hands.   
  
  
~END FLASHBACK~  
That night I wrote an email to Sora about how much I wanted to date her. She called me the next afternoon and after a three hour talk, decided to become official. I was on cloud nine, and I knew Sora was too. She carried herself in a totally different way, and it made me glad to see her so happy. Looking back, I could have done something different, I could have let her know about some of the things she did to smother me. But I was young and had feelings for Sora I hadn't had with any other girl, so I shrugged them off until it was too late. Sometimes I wish I could turn back time and make things better. I wish I could have her back.   
  
  
** That's it! Sorry it's so short, but that's life! The next chapter is going to be in Tai's POV again, as he's going to become the narrator for the majority of the fic. There will be some chapters with Sora telling the story, but for now Tai's in charge. And I'm hoping that this isn't coming off as a one sided story, because it really isn't. I mean, yes, this fic is about Sora, but there are going to be other objectives involved, such as Tai's views on their relationship and why it failed so quickly. And there's going to be a section with Matt talking about how Sora fell for him and he didn't feel anything for him, then after she was over him, he fell for her and felt the pain of unrequitted love for himself. In any event, there's going to be a lot of POV's involved, including one from Izzy (remember, he's the one who took Sora's hand on the way from the shack and she refused him). Well, review, and let me know if this bites and I should kill it or not! ** 


End file.
